Tuesday, April 29, 2008

29.04.2008: More tests

Last weekend was all about you; on the Saturday, the doctor wanted to make sure that you are still strong and healthy, so he had decided to put your mother on this 'bleeping' machine... here is how it works.

gio h There were 2 sensors, one to monitor your heart rate and the other measures the contraction/movement of the womb, there is also this little button that your mother had to press each time you moved.

She was there for over 30 minutes, the doctor wasn't happy with the first set of results so he decided to add another 10 minutes. We were glad to know that you are fine, because each time you move your heart rate also went up, this is a sign that your brain was working properly. By the way, wait until you get a job then your brain will really be messed up...


sdgs On the Sunday we had our next set of lessons, this time is how to hold you, how to wash your hair and give you a bath and so on. Because you weren't there, we had a substitute...

She scared the hell of me, but after a few minutes, we got to know each other, and she actually was very good, very quiet and didn't move much (actually didn't move at all).

This was my handy work, folding your nappy... I gave myself an A+ because she didn't make a sound (it could also be because she didn't have a voice box).
 



hrwerh Putting on the shirt thingy was even easier, by the way this shirt was on the wrong way round (my bad... hee hee). With this close up you can appreciate how your stand in had given me the creepers, those fixated blue eyes, expressionless face... ooooohhhhhh.

3 more weeks... your mother is finding it harder and harder to move, but she is enjoying every second of it :)

Friday, April 25, 2008

25.04.2008: Itchy Fingers...

Don't worry I haven't caught anything exotic, but my fingers are itching for another personal project (which will of course drive your mother up the wall).

fdgeh Here is the result of the last project,  most of the peripherals came from the old PC, but the motherboard, CPU, RAM, HDs and case were new.

It must have been some time in 2005, I'd met up with your uncle Chat at Pantip, bought all of the parts in the morning, when out for a few beers in the evening didn't get home until around midnight.

At around quarter past midnight, I said to myself, "I am not going to assemble it now (being a sensible person that I am), I'll go to bed and do it in the morning, as I should have a clear head by then"... "But... may be I could just unpack all the parts"... "now that is a great idea, so I shan't have to waste any time unpacking in the morning"...

To cut the long story short, 7 hours later I had finished putting my first PC together, and amazingly it booted up the first time with no problem (apart from a lot of swear words and praying along the 7 hours) (installing the CPU fan was a nightmare, especially after a few pints) (by the way, normal people would only perhaps need 2 - 3 hours, but your dad is different... strangely different :)

So it is time once again, I am thinking about a 'Caseless' PC (haven't told your mother yet, I don't think I am going to tell her until I have all the parts... hee hee). The only thing about going Caseless is the dust problem, have been looking at HSPC, their 'Techstation' looks interesting, but I don't think I can get it here (besides there is only room for 2 HDs, so I don't think I can make use of it anyway).

Now I am looking into 'Rack' system, most of them are huge (server) things... I'll keep you posted, unless your mother gets to me first :)

See you this Saturday :)

P

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

19.04.2008: See you soon...

It was yet another scheduled meeting with the Doctor today, everything seemed to be in order so he wasn't going to do the ultrasound this time but your mother insisted on seeing you, so to the ultrasound room we all went... you'll get use this when you grow up... your mother is always right...

Apparently at this late stage of your development it is virtually impossible to have a good look at your face, the Doctor makes some measurement on this huge machine only to discovered the embryonic fluid that is surrounding you is a little low, it should be around 10 cms but you only have 8.5 cms at the moment.

It could be because of the hot weather of late and your mother insisting on living in the kitchen through out the Songkran's holiday (I still have over 10 Salapaos as my prove).

The Doctor have told your mother to drink a lot of water and to come back again in a week, so we shall see you again next Saturday, and lets hope you are swimming in more than 10 cms... Your mother is doping water like mad at the moment, even more than her coconut phase.

Cheers

P

Friday, April 18, 2008

18.04.2008: 3GP Cranky Geeks

I have been a weekly watcher of Cranky Geeks for quite a while now, usually download the MPEG format every Thursday, but for episode 112 there was a welcome change (at least for me).

The MPEG download link had gone, to be replaced by 3GP, meaning a drop from 126 MB to 35 MB.

If you enjoy tech news in a kind of a debate format (can be extremely funny at times), with great insights (sometimes) then you should give www.crankygeeks.com a try :)

Cheers

P

Thursday, April 17, 2008

17.04.2008: Your First Car...

You’ll be glad to know, yesterday we have bought you, your very first car :) I love it, not sure if you’ll appreciate it or not. It has 4 independent suspension with clip lock breaks (unfortunately there were no MacPherson Strut, sorry), double tyres set up for the front wheels, and a tough single tyre wheels at the back... wait for this... the tyres are punctured proof with a quick release, simply genius.

IMG_1346 It is an Italian design and build (judging by the various lines on the body it could well be an associated company of Pina Ferina), a cabriolet with a sunroof, the top takes about a second to raise, the handling is amazing, you can turn it on a penny. The interior is totally fantastic, with sporty upholstery (including at least 3 cup holders).

The seat actually comes in 2 separate sections, the first section is for when you are very small, then once you get bigger you can move to the second section, but the first section actually fits onto the second section... just like a transformers...

The heart of any car is its engine, this one is really special!  The engine is totally interchangeable!!!


Depending on how you feel, it could be ‘Mummy V-Tech’ (two legpowers, top speed is slightly faster than a snail high on salt) or if you wanted something stronger you can go for the ‘Daddy Twin Turbo Supercharger & Nitrox’, unfortunately it is still two legpowers but it has been tuned differently (it will also run on high alcohol based fuel such as ‘Snake Bite & Black’).

Of course there are other different engines you could choose from, such as ‘Uncle Chat’ or ‘Uncle Oop’ model but I wouldn’t recommend it as these two were made to run on PURE alcohol based fuel, quite dangerous in deed.

Cheers

P

Monday, April 14, 2008

14.04.2008: Comparison... :)

Your mother received a phone call today, one of her colleague had also just given birth, all in all her friend had gained... are you ready for this :) ... ... ... 4 Kgs... and 'so far' your mother have gained 23 Kgs (that is over +51%). I have purposely said 'so far' :) Your mother said she is going on a diet, please keep in mind that you'll be arriving in just 5 weeks, so I said 'forget it' and bought her some ice-cream... :) haa haa haa, we really can not wait go see you.

In terms of a career, you may think about becoming a Chef, the hidden agenda is really to keep your mother out of the kitchen (as you can do all the cooking :) The salapaos that I was telling you about were not too bad but there are just so much of it! The couple that I had was rather good, but I think that could really be just the best 2... haa haa.

Cheers

P

Sunday, April 13, 2008

13.04.2008: Songkran (Thai New Year)

Today is the beginning of Songkran (Thai New Year), you'll love it. One of the main thing for this 3 days festival is the total Nationwide 'water fights', this is the only time of the year when you get to see grown ups with wonderful colourful water pistols. We can not wait to take you along, may be in your fifth Songkran you'll really appreciate it. Special thanks to the people who took these photos (got them off the web) 

sdfgyeryertewry 

Just opened up another coconut for your mother, I must say I am getting to be a real expert at choosing the right coconut now, it isn't in the size but the weight... the heavier it is the more juice it will have (this theory will need at least another three or four rounds of experiment :)

13042008 Because of the extra long weekend (this time we got 5 days off),  your mother is on the cooking mode again :) and it all started this morning with 'Ma Moung Gouan' (Mango Puree). This morning she had spent well over two hours, slowly simmering Mangoes into a sludge. By the time she had finished, both of us thought it was a total disaster (me more than your mother :)

But when we got home this evening the few that she had separated in to small sheet was PERFECTLY SCRUPMTIOUS, 1-0 to your mother :)

Right now she is working on 'Pa-lo' I have no idea how to describe it in English, it is a Chinese dish and really fattening... That had just given me a thought, there is no way you are going to be thin :) not in a million years





ew Tomorrow she is going to make me some 'Salapao', the picture is what it should look like,  your mother's version is slightly different, this will be her second attempt. The last time, I must admit that it tasted alright (most of them :) but the funny thing was, it came is different sizes (which is not how it supposed to be), the smallest one was the size of a small fist, and the largest one was as large as Niagara Falls. This time she is more prepared, I shall tell you how it goes :) (fingers cross for the both of us).




11042008(001) As mentioned earlier in the previous blog, I have now jumped from 'Dial up' to 'Mobile Broadband' a bit late in coming and I couldn't be more happy with the move (so far, 1 day)

Took about 5 mins to set up everything, it was easier than eating a banana. Got the 'Yearly' unlimited package, somehow I think I have chosen the wrong package, never going to use it that much :)

Cheers

P



P.S. While I was uploading the above, I had a quick run downstairs just to see how your mother was doing... and to my surprise this is what I saw....

IMG_1336 Ma Moung Gouan had learnt how to mate and gave births all in about 2 hours...

It will be an interesting breakfast tomorrow morning :)

Friday, April 11, 2008

11.04.2008: 5 more weeks

It seems like with only 5 weeks to go, your mother is struggling more and more each day, finding it harder to walk and sleep, you are getting stronger and stronger each week, measured by the way you kick and punch, to the extent that she now jumps every time you move (followed very quickly by her usual humongous smile :)

xfg Your mother now walks like her boss (she is going to kill me for this), and sleeps like an aging sleeping security guard  (she has to be in a sitting position to sleep), so it isn’t easy but she is more than happy to go through anything until your arrival, she (we) can not wait to see you.

I think she is hoping that you won’t look like me :) I am not sure how that can really be avoided, haa haa haa, so I may have her on that one. Unless it’s the Milkman, but since we have no such thing as a Milkman here in Thailand, so undoubtedly you should at least have some resemblance to your old man :) (the Milkman reference is an English thing, I’ll explain it to you later, trust me it’s funny (well to me anyway)).

Cheers

P

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

09.04.2008: Good Bye to Dial up...

I am not sure if you have seen the film 'I am Legend', like the film, I must be one of the few left who had not caught the 'Broad Band' virus (in Thailand), 'Dial Up' (call me a dinosaur 54.6 Kbps) connection is still serving me well.

All this is about to change, I have decided to move from 'Dial Up' to 'Air Card', instead of a more natural move to ADSL (especially for the home). There won't be a great jump in terms of speed, but the advantage of not having to set up ADSL and the ability to take the connection anywhere just outweigh the fixed line Broad Band.

Here in Thailand there are several operators who offer this service, AIS (the Giant (GSM)), Dtac (the protege (GSM)), True Move (still Thai (GSM)) and Hutch (trying hard to survive (CDMA)).

I was told Hutch have a dedicated pipeline just for Data (instead of mixing it with the voice pipeline), and especially for Bangkok, many people have only good things to say about Hutch and their mobile broadband.

If things go as plan by the time I write the next blog, I should be connected via the Hutch network... So if you are in Thailand, and wanted to change over to mobile Broad Band, here are a few pointers.

From asking around, for mobile Broad Band, you can do no better than either Hutch or Dtac. Hutch has less coverage, but their Bangkok coverage is superb but outside of Bangkok their coverage isn't so hot (www.hutch.co.th)

Another alternative is Dtac (www.dtac.co.th, the number 2 mobile operator in Thailand (AIS has the number 1 spot)), for the past couple of years they have been trying to make a push in this business, their coverage is nationwide but their speed (so I've been told) may not be as good as Hutch (no scientific fact here, just words of mouth, so it could totally be completely and absolutely wrong :) (not to mention the other two mobile operators (www.ais.co.th and www.truemove.co.th), could turn out to be better than the two already mentioned), but again from words of mouth Hutch is the best for BKK

Cheers

P

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

08.04.2008: Giant Pants...

Over the long weekend, your mother got some new pants (and I don't mean 'trousers'), they are not just normal pants, these are super giant pants (SGP for short), it could easily cover the whole of the Grand Canyon :)

To be fair, I am not really that slim either, in fact I don't think I have ever been slim :) since we knew that you were here about 8 months ago, I have been gaining the Kgs steadily, actually at about the same rate as our inflation rate... (which is terrible... hee hee).

This afternoon I've received a long e-mail from your Uncle James, Uncle James is a friend of mine since our years together at the University (back in England), and here was how we've met...

It must have been some time in the spring during the first year at the University, I was waiting for the mandatory first year 'Electronic' class, I think the lecturer was either a second or a third cousin of Count Dracula himself, the accent was perfect and the hair was almost identical (not to mention the laugh), all that was missing were the fangs and cloak.

Anyway, I was just sitting there (on the floor) minding my own business, over 8,000 miles away from home, and your Uncle James (I think he must have been bored) simply kicked me (to get my attention, he could have just said hello, but it must me a Northampton thing (just kidding)).

After getting my attention, he then followed up with a barrage of questions (not that dissimilar to the Spanish Inquisition), after about 5 minutes he had managed to extort everything... and I mean everything, he knew me better that your grandparents ever did.

Uncle James, Chris, Mark and I ended up sharing several houses during our years at the Uni, Uncle John was fortunate enough to have his own place (lucky git) :) There are loads more stupidity I can share with you when you are older, especially when we decided to drive in the middle of the night to a supposedly haunted castle, then got stopped by your Uncle John's uncle who was a policeman... say no more...

Anyway, Uncle James is also expecting his own bundle of joy, if all goes as plan he/she should only be one week older than you are :)

Cheers

P

Saturday, April 5, 2008

05.04.08: More shopping

05042008(001) This afternoon we were in wonderland once again, and once again we didn't have a clue what we were doing. I am sure you'll will appreciate our dilemma when you have a kid of your own.

We almost gave up when we saw 7 different kinds of 'cotton buds'... and that was just the beginning.






05042008Virtually all of our conversations went something like this;

"Do we need this?"

"Don't know, but it looks useful/important/necessary, lets get it just in case"...

Repeat over and over for 3 hours.












05042008(002) After 3 hours, here is the result...

We were reassured later that all the things we got, were necessary, in fact there are a few more things that we had forgotten... going back to wonderland next week :)

Thursday, April 3, 2008

03.04.2008: Back on the Coconuts again

Your mother is back on the coconuts again, it seems like with only 5 weeks to go, she is doubling her effort to personally uplift the price of coconuts in Thailand, by creating as much demand as possible. You should see the cashier's face at the supermarket, it is beyond any measurable level of embarrassment when I walk up to the cashier with nothing but coconuts, and a box of tissues.

02042008Your mother has to sleep on a bunch of pillows now, we just hope that you are comfortable na krub.

Going to the doctor again this Saturday, the last time we couldn't use the ultrasound machine (the doctor had another rushed appointment), so we are hoping to see you for sure this time... don't forget to say cheese :), cheers.

P